Literary translation

[Adawulf]

Hello, I just signed up and I really do not know where to put this subject. Also I wanted to say hi to everyone.

And my question is - could you recommend me some source where I could find a definition or description of issues of literary translation (translation of literature)?
Maybe I'm just dumb but when I was looking for sources on literary translation I didn't find what I was looking for (plain definitions or issues) but rather opinions of known authors on this topic or looooong analysis. And what I need is concise definition to cite in my paper.
Let me know if you could help.

[Daniel]

That's a huge field, so you're right that there's a lot of research to sort through. A book place to start for this sort of thing would be a Handbook* that provides overview chapters. Note that sometimes more general handbooks (e.g. Applied Linguistics) would have an overview chapter on translation which could be exactly what you're looking for.
(*Typically titled something like "X-Publisher's Handbook of Field-of-Study".)

[Adawulf]

Thanks. What you say is correct, however (don't think I'm rude) it does not push me anywhere forward in terms of time. I still have to dig through hundreds of books to find an explanation that would totally make about 1-3% of my thesis. My thesis is not particulary on this subject, however the term "literary translation" does happen to exist in it. And it is a good thing to insert an explanation of every linguistic term in your thesis, just to be precise, but also so your university won't grade you lower.

So yes, you have a point here, now I'll dig through some other books, but I was hoping that someone actually knew a particular book that would fit my expectations.

I don't mean to be rude. Thank you for your answer!

[Daniel]

I still have to dig through hundreds of books to find an explanation that would totally make about 1-3% of my thesis.

Right. Sounds like research. (I'm doing that at the moment.)
Handbooks are usually pretty easy to find, and clearly organized, though, so I can't think of any better (general) shortcut than that.

Regardless, I feel like "literary translation" is basically self-explanatory (often the sort of thing you don't need to cite, because it refers to general knowledge), but if it matters in your work then you really should find a specific definition and apply it consistently in your work. Definitions do vary, so it's worth looking at a few.

I was hoping that someone actually knew a particular book that would fit my expectations.

Maybe someone will reply. I'm just offering an option in case not.

[Adawulf]

I understand. Indeed research takes time. There was just a shadow of hope that someone would read my post and shout to himself: Ha! I know such book!

[Forbes]

Probably a bit late, but “Experiences in Translation” by Umbert Eco covers the subject of literary translation at some length.